Wiki/wiki-rtd/docs/wiki_emulator_guides/mame/mame-guide.md

MAME - General Guide

Where to put the games?

Games that you want to run with MAME should be put under the retrodeck/roms/mame/ directory.

What file formats are supported?

Too many to list here but generally .zip files is the recommended format that bundles the firmware and bios files with the game.

Does MAME require BIOS or Firmware?

Yes, but in most cases the firmware or BIOS is bundled inside the games .zip with the game files.

MAME Standalone Folders

MAME Standalone comes with several folders for various assets and files.

Configuration Folders

Where different types of configurations are stored

Type	Folder	Comment
Saves diff	retrodeck/saves/mame-sa/diff/
Saves hiscore	retrodeck/saves/mame-sa/hiscore/
Saves nvram	retrodeck/saves/mame-sa/nvram/
CFG	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/cfg	This is where the default.cfg is and also any custom game configs are saved.
INI	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/ini	This is where ui.ini and mame.ini files are located. But they should not be touched unless you know what you are doing.
INP	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/inp

Data Folders

Where different types of validation data and plugins are stored

Type	Folder	Comment
Cheat	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/cheat
DATS	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/dats
Folders	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/folders
Hash	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/hash
Plugin-Data	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/plugin-data
Plugins	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/plugins

Asset Folders

Where different types of art assets and metadata are stored

Type	Folder	Comment
Artwork	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/artwork
Artwork-preview	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/artwork-preview
Bosses	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/bosses
Cabinets	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/cabinets
Comments	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/comments
Covers	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/covers
Cpanel	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/cpanel
Crosshair	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/crosshair
Ends	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/ends
Flyers	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/flyers
Fonts	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/fonts
Game Over	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/gameover
How-to	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/howto
Language	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/language
Logo	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/logo
Marquees	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/marquees
PCB	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/pcb
Samples	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/samples
Scores	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/scores
Select	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/select
Share	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/share
Software	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/software
Titles	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/titles
UI	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/ui
Versus	~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/data/mame/assets/versus

How-to enable cheats?

RetroDECK already ships the cheat file from Pugsy's Cheats as part of the cheat folder.

To enable cheats open MAME via the Configurator (we plan to make this easier later).

In the MAME interface go to -> General Settings -> Miscellaneous Options -> Cheats and toggle it to On -> go back and click Save Settings and leave MAME.

When you launch a game open the Quick Menu and go to the Cheat menu to toggle cheats for that game.

Applying effects such as Shaders and Scanlines

First read up on BGFX effects on BGFX MAMEdev

We

1. Go to ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/mame/ini
2. Open the mame.ini with your text editor of choice.
3. Find OSD VIDEO OPTIONS and edit the value: video from opengl to bgfx.
4. Find GFX POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS and edit the value: bgfx_screen_chains fron nothing to what ever value you want from the BGFX link. Example value from MAME: bgfx_screen_chains: crt-geom,pillarbox_left_horizontal,pillarbox_right_horizontal.